Congressional letter to Ambassador Eng

Dear Mr. Ambassador:

We commend you and the Cambodian Government for your efforts on behalf of prospective adoptive families from our states. Your cooperation and assistance throughout this suspension process is very much appreciated.

We were pleased to learn recently that the cases being considered as part of the expanded special humanitarian . initiative had been approved by the Cambodian Government and official adoption decrees have been issued. We realize that the expanded special humanitarian initiative is not the Cambodian Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSALVY) only responsibility and appreciate the time and resources your government has committed to this effort. It is our hope that you will continue to provide the personnel and other means necessary to complete the final stages of the process: orphanage visits, follow-up investigations when deemed necessary, and finalization meetings.

As you know, the joint U.S.-Cambodia Task Force began the orphanage visits phase on Monday, August 19, 2002. According to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the Task Force and high-level MOSALVY officials met on Tuesday, August 20th, to review the results of the Task Force's work and discuss the proposed schedule for orphanage visits. We were encouraged by this news. We understand that this would not have been possible without the hard work of the Cambodian officials involved int his process. Specifically, we would like to recognize the tremendous contribution made by those Cambodian officials who have been working as part of the Task Force, including Director Chhem, MOSALVY Adoption Bureau, and Captain Thong, Cambodian Immigration Police. We would like to express our appreciation in advance for your continued support to our officials and for the resources allocated to resolving this initiative in an appropriate and timely manner.

We hope that you can appreciate the importance of this issue to the American citizens we represent. Because of the personal impact this suspension has had on our constituents and the children they hope to adopt, a timely resolution remains a priority for us and other concerned members of the United States' Congress. We certainly appreciate the flexibility your government has demonstrated in its willingness to accommodate our request to process cases under 1 the expanded special humanitarian initiative. We are hopeful that talks regarding the schedule for visits will continue. We respectfully request your personal attention to this matter to make sure this highest priority concern of ours is addressed as expeditiously as possible, with, of course, all due diligence.

Again, we appreciate your efforts and look forward to working with you to address mutual international adoption issues.

Sincerely,

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